OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 258: Cigar

Chapter 258: Cigar

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"Huh?"

"What?"

"We just left to beat the fuckers, right?"

"Right."

"Then why are we heading to your office?!"

"Just because."

Two tall men argued in the middle of the hallway leading to the privileged offices.

"What?"

"I said just because."

"I'm serious, man!"

A sigh left the taller one's mouth as he pushed the sunglasses off his eyes, revealing their deep blacks.

They were pulsating and swirling like pools of absolute darkness, worse than those of the Zerathar.

The man opposite those eyes couldn't remove his gaze from them.

He saw death's shadow but didn't dare leave.

"E-Emir, I-I get it..."

Emir covered his eyes once again and walked forward.

"We aren't going to beat up anyone; we'll just go get a drink."

"I really need to relax for a bit."

An awkward chuckle escaped Ragnar.

"A-Alright, let's go, and you know what? I'll do you one better."

"And what would that be?"

"I've got a few cigars I prepared to celebrate my enrollment, so why don't we drink with that?"

"Sure."

--

"Here you go."

Ragnar, who sat opposite Emir's desk, presented a long and fat cigar.

Emir took it off his hands and proceeded to cut it with one of his swords.

"How barbaric."

Ragnar commented while taking out a guillotine cutter.

"Heh, it's all the same in the end... Anyways, what's it called?"

Kachuck.

"These two babies are called Church... I don't know why they named them after a house of prayer, but they're good."

Click!

Click!

Emir had his cigar ready and was rotating it while he lit up its end with a lighter.

He breathed in the cut at every other moment.

Puff... Puff... Puff.

After a few more puffs his cigar was fully lit, and he enjoyed the slight lightheaded feeling it gave him.

'How though? I never thought drinking or smoking would ever get me going...'

"What's in them?"

Ragnar snickered.

"Chemically manufactured tobacco, it's so potent that one puff would give a mortal cancer straight away..."

"Though they'd die before that ever happens."

Emir took another puff while lying back in his seat.

"Hahaha... man, mortals huh, never thought I'd hear something like that."

Click! Click!

Puff... Puff...

Smoke began to slowly fill the room as Emir set the ventilation system off, his intent to hot box the place.

"...We stepped up in this world, brother, me and you."

"That we did."

They shared a laugh while drowning themselves in smoke, staying quiet for a while after that.

Emir then poured two glasses of whiskey from the bottle he had prepared before the test.

He got it from his rucksack, which was laid next to his fancy chair, adorned with rich, Alcantara leather, worthy of being called privileged.

It wasn't just his chair, but the entire office, as it all screamed luxury.

The reinforced steel door outside was plain, only showing his name and room number above

it on a tablet-like screen.

The inside was the exact opposite.

Many paintings adorned the walls, while shelves to the left of the desk contained Artifacts

called 'Books' in all shapes and sizes.

Emir, of course, knew it to be just a normal book, containing novels, general knowledge, and whatever else...

But those of the new world only knew them as Artifacts of the old world.

Next to the shelves was a door leading to another room.

The two brothers had checked it out earlier, and it had a bathroom, a kitchen, a bed, and even

a private training room with systems better than the SS-rank room he used to visit.

It was obvious that this place was designed to support a professor's daily life since they sometimes needed to stay in the Academy for a long while.

Now back to the desk...

It had a terminal atop it that he was used to, connected to a laser printer, and some other

common gadgets.

A holoscreen was on his right, placed close to the wall.

With a command from his neural network, a hologram materialized, showing the life feed of

the students' test.

But it was muted, as Emir didn't want to listen to the commentators' exaggerated screaming.

"Hey, uhhh..."

Ragnar finally ended the silence, prompting Emir to glance at him.

"What's up?"

"...Do you still hear the whispers?"

"Which ones?"

"...Your own."

"I do, a few times here and there."

Emir chuckled and took a puff of his cigar.

"But it's fine though; give it time, and we'll be back to normal, and this shit is helping quite a

bit."

Ragnar's face brightened like a happy dog with a wagging tail.

'Heh...'

"I know, right?! I get that you went way further, but the whispers already stopped for me, so I

thought I'd help you out."

"Yeah, thanks for that; I can't have myself get all schizo."

"I can't imagine, but yeah... Cheers!"

They clinked their glasses and drank it all at once.

Emir felt his throat burn, but that was only for a moment; his heart didn't beat wildly, nor did

The feel any different.

"Hm, as expected, I should've bought something more potent."

Bang!

Ragnar's head crashed onto the desk.

"Ugh... what the fuck are you on about?"

The prince sneered at his brother's pathetic state.

"Heh, it's only a thousand percent alcohol; you could take it."

"Whatever man... Bleh, I'll just stick with beer."

Emir took another puff of his cigar.

"You do you, mate." Ragnar did the same, trying to get the whiskey's weird banana taste out of his mouth.

"By the way... back then, you talked quite a bit with those lab rats; is there a reason?"

Puff...

"Yeah, Raymond, one of my guys went excommunicado."

"Wait, he was a lab rat too?"

"That's what I said, yes. Did the alcohol get to you-"

"Shut up, man! Why isn't there any serious moment with you?"

"It's how I cope."

"Yeah, no, tell me."

After taking a puff of his cigar, Emir poured himself another glass and took a sip.

"It's just more fun that way... I've had enough drama in my life."

Puff...

"What life? You're like... fifteen, I think? So you don't have the privilege to say that."

"Hah? I'm an adult, you know!"

"You are, but you can only be considered one of those barely legal types that all the chicks

lose their shit over."

Puff...

"But I'm more than that... you know this."

Ragnar's body shook for a moment, and after a few more puffs of his cigar, he focused all his

attention on Emir.

"Is this place safe?"

Emir nodded. [Lyra, come say hi.]

The holoscreen that showed Elijah's marathon spurted out another hologram.

It was one of a beautiful woman with white hair in a ponytail and red rubies for eyes.

"Oh, you've got a new style going."

"You noticed! What do you think?"

"Gorgeous as always."

Lyra's smile brightened as she let out a little giggle.

"I've had a lot of free time, so I wanted to give you a little surprise..."

"It's a nice one-"

"Hey, hey, stop flirting and explain what's going on!"

Ragnar cut in, having been confused long enough.

Emir looked back at him and took another puff, blowing the smoke onto his face.

"Remember our talk of girls back then? Well, she's the one."

"Huh... I didn't know..."

Ragnar sat properly in his seat and waved his hand towards her.

"Nice to meet you, sis-in-law."

Lyra blushed and snapped her head away.

"W-We're not at that point yet..."

Emir chuckled.

"Yeah, though I'm surprised Ly, for once you don't want to kill those that I met."

Her face turned serious as she eyed Emir.

"Well... we all came from the same cloth, and he's like me."

"How so?" Ragnar asked.

"Both of us will die for Emir."

Lyra's answer came in a heartbeat, one that Ragnar nodded to without pause.

"Alright, alright, stop with the dying stuff... Rag, let me introduce you."

Emir interrupted their moment while standing up and walking over to her hologram.

"This behind me is Lyra... an AI from the Order itself."

Ragnar jumped up from his seat, his cigar dropping to the ground.

"WHAT?!"

Emir took a puff and kicked him in the chest, sending him back to the chair he sat on.

"Calm down; she defected... How do you think I survived till now?"

"B-But-"

Lyra showed a sad smile, clearly upset at his reaction, but she knew better than to let that

affect her.

"Ragnar, I know that it might seem impossible to you... but I really am on your side. I've staked my everything on Emir since day one; his life and mine are one." "If you can't believe that I'm with you, then do you really think I'd kill myself?"

Emir then picked up the cigar that Ragnar dropped and threw it back to him. With trembling hands, Ragnar caught it, further lit it up, and took a few puffs to calm himself.

"I do... You AIs will do anything, fucking anything, if we go out of line. I know this by heart..."

Ragnar lowered his head, afraid to even look at Emir's face. "Y-you can't trust her, Emir; t-this all might be an act to control you!"